Death Proof
by Erzsebeth Bathory
Summary: David's world had been shattered after what happened in the Emerson household. He had lost everything and he himself was lost... until a stranger with her own dire secrets discovered him, and offered to help him.


**Disclaimer: **_The Lost Boys _is copyright (c) Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. and all others associated with legal rights.

**Author's note: **Hello! This is a Lost Boys story I've written with one of my buddies over on Tumblr almost a year ago. My partner-in-crime for this fic is the epic and awesome **XDavien**! Since we had so much fun writing this, we decided to share it with our fellow LB fans. It's a story focusing on David and it takes place shortly after the events of the 1987 movie. Please enjoy the first chapter and let us know what you think!

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><p>"Death Proof"<p>

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><p>Time had become an elusive thing. Undetermined. Unquantifiable. David wasn't sure how long it had been. How many hours. Days. If it had even been days at all. All he knew was that he had woken up at Michael's house after their fight, impaled and in agony. It must have been sheer determination that allowed him to lift his body off of those hateful antlers. The sickening pull in his chest and the wet, slurping noise as they finally came out. The pool of blood below him being joined by more. Pain unlike any he had ever felt searing through every fiber of his being. Somehow David managed to stumble out of there on his own.<p>

In his rage over what had happened to Marko, he had been blinded. He underestimated the group of fumbling children. And that was his undoing. After being left for dead, but barely surviving, he stumbled outside, not knowing if Dwayne or Paul had made it out or not. He had seen what looked to be Dwayne's body on the floor, the memory of that continued to haunt him. He would get revenge. Eventually. Now, he had to recuperate. Everything had been so disorienting. He had managed to find some blood and had taken refuge in the cave, hoping that his brothers would find their way back… If they even could.

And now he was standing outside of Max's store. David wasn't sure exactly why, he had just ended up there. Perhaps by habit. Perhaps out of hope that the head of their pack was still alive. It was crazy to hope that Max was just fine and already back to work. No, everything was different now. David's world had been shattered. So here he was, feeling completely broken and betrayed, looking for help from his leader who wasn't there.

He slouched against the side of the building, dejected. A sharp inhale sounded through the night when his injured back made contact. He could feel the sticky wetness there, clinging to his shirt. Damn… He was still bleeding out. A cut or scrape was easy. It would heal overnight. But this… This was going to take longer. He looked up, his face a mask of pain, as he stared at the night sky. The stars. They made him feel insignificant. How vast and steady they were. How they would endure and watch all of the bullshit happening in the world. Untouched. He wished he could be like that. That he could just shrug everything off and be unaffected. But he couldn't. So quickly he had lost everything. David even felt that way, himself. Lost.

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><p>The beach was empty and not a single bonfire could be seen. The edge of the boardwalk was desolate without the tourists and locals milling about like they would during operating hours. Dressed in a thick, khaki colored jacket, dark pants, sneakers, and gloves, one might assume Jane Darling was an out-of-state visitor who was overly prepared to venture into a bleak and frosty climate that Santa Carla, or the Bay Area in general, would never endure. In actuality, she was very much a resident of the town but spent much of the summer away from the crowds, preferring to go out when it wouldn't be heavily occupied and offered few chances of being in contact with people.<p>

As she walked along the shoreline, she tilted her head up and saw it was a magnificent and breathtaking night, nature's masterpiece waiting to be painted. She reached up and stretched her hand high above her head, trying in vain to reach a single one of the many countless stars in the sky. She often wished she could just fly away and leave the world behind.

With a faint smirk, she lowered her hand back to her side, decided to return to reality, and wandered over to the pier located right by the boardwalk. It consisted of a street built over a wooden platform above the water. It was lined with shops and restaurants, all of which were closed until tomorrow.

Didn't her roommate, Maria, work somewhere around here? Jane's eyes studied the various signs that adorned the buildings until she saw one that read "Video Max." Yeah, that would be the place right there.

Jane suddenly froze in her tracks when her line of sight fell from the sign and onto the person dressed in black slouched against the building. From what she could tell, he looked roughly around the same age as her, with platinum blond hair fashioned in a mullet haircut. He was heavily dressed himself despite the otherwise pleasant weather this seaside town had to offer. On the wall behind him, Jane spotted what looked like some streaks of... blood...?

She drew in a sharp breath but her feet were planted in her spot. She was more than well aware of the infamous "Murder Capital of the World" nickname the town was bestowed with once upon a time, and she would have assumed he was just another poor victim, if not for the fact that he was actually looking up at the skies, the same skies she had been staring at not even ten minutes ago.

Ideally, Jane would not allow herself to be in close contact with anyone, often fearing for _**their**_ safety, often forcing herself to become detached because of it. However, there was something about the way this boy looked, with his face etched with agony and pain (beyond the physical aspect he was probably enduring at that moment) that made her want to relate to him.

She should go and find a payphone and call for help. After all, she didn't know this person or if he was alone. If someone did this to him, they might still be around...

Her gut instinct told her that he was alone, and deciding to go against her usual code of keeping away from others, she hurried over to his side. Her shoes scruffed against the platform, making enough noise so as not to startle him. Then she knelt down beside him, keeping an arm's length away, and figured if anything, she could at least get some information from him before she took off to call for help.

"Can you hear me?" she asked him. She certainly wasn't going to ask if he was okay, because if that blood on the wall behind him was any indication of his health, she knew he wouldn't be. "What happened to you?"

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><p>The unchanging stars twinkled on as David watched them for an unknown amount of time. At some point in his exhaustion he had slid down the side of the building, leaving a trail of blood behind smeared along the wall. And yet his chin remained raised up, not caring about his wounds, his mind lost in the constellations above him.<p>

The only thing that distracted his mind from its wandering was the sound of footsteps approaching. He didn't bother to look up, figuring it was just another annoying security guard, probably one that knew of him and the boys and wanted to give him shit for loitering. Or just for being there; they relentlessly got kicked off the boardwalk for causing too much trouble. What fun was an immortal life and all that power, if you couldn't do what you wanted and have a little fun?

Those were his assumptions until he heard the soft, feminine voice… Definitely not one of the boardwalk's security guards. It contrasted so much with how he was feeling that he almost wondered if he imagined it. What did they ask? If he could hear them? With some confusion on his features, he turned to face the voice, wondering if anyone was even really there.

The streetlight behind the woman illuminated her blonde hair and gave it the look of a halo, as if an angel had come for him. Even though her face was shadowed he could still see that she was a pretty girl. And not just your normal every day kind of pretty. It was the kind of pretty that those actresses had in old films. A classic beauty that just couldn't be mimicked by modern girls and all their makeup, revealing clothing, and… Harshness. There was nothing harsh about this person in front of him. There was a softness about her features, like an artist had taken the time to painstakingly paint every line and curve. But the most alluring thing about her was her eyes. There was a gentleness, a soulfulness, there. The concern she held for him, a stranger in a strange town, was in those large brown doe eyes, as was a hint of sadness. The depth of them made it hard not to stare. He blinked a couple times, almost forgetting the pain for a moment.

David moistened his lips before speaking, his voice coming out a little more gruff than usual. "What happened to me? Well, that's a long story. And really, Goldilocks, I'm fine. Don't worry 'bout me."

He gave her a crooked grin and sat up straighter, leaning forward. The grimace he made while doing so showed that the statement was false. The color on the wall caught an eye and he looked back at his blood there, another telltale sign that he wasn't 'fine'. Pale blue eyes lingered on the glistening red as he took in a deep breath. David looked back, wearing a guilty grin while raising his eyebrows and shoulders slightly.

"Well, maybe I'm not one hundred percent, perfectly fine. But I'm not concerned about me. You on the other hand… What's a girl like you doing out here late at night and all alone? It can be a dangerous place, you know."

Jane was certainly more than aware of how dangerous this town could be. She was lucky she didn't add onto the ever mounting numbers of deaths that Santa Carla was gruesomely known for due to her curse. Besides her roommate and the various under-the-table jobs that involved little interaction with anybody, Jane did well with keeping away from others, whether they were the friendliest looking people she could ever meet or the shadiest. She was proud she was able to keep in control. So what was it about this battered and broken looking person that drove her to venture out of her safe zone? She had to admit, he did have such a smooth sounding voice in spite of his current physical condition. She could imagine him smooth talking his way out of plenty of jams. And his eyes, they reminded her of ice. They could look right at you and you would freeze in your spot. In this case, the ice has melted some and she was allowed to wade just a little deeper into the depths.

"Come on," she said, ignoring his question about being alone. She leaned in closer and with her gloved hands, she carefully patted his shoulder to make sure he wasn't injured there. When she didn't see him wince in response, she lifted his arm very carefully and ducked her head underneath so that his arm draped across her shoulders.

"We're going back to my place," she explained matter-of-factly as she tried to ignore the putrid smell of blood coming from his chest. What the hell did he do to get himself this mangled so badly? She used all of her strength to carefully pull him away from the Video Max wall and up to his feet. Though she was rather on the petite side, not even 5'3", she was a lot stronger than people gave her credit for.

Up close, this guy was roguishly good looking. The stubble on his face was a nice touch, too. The earring he wore was rebellious and yet it suited him. If he wasn't so beat up, he truly could come across as menacing. Unfortunately, as of now, he didn't look like he could harm a fly. That right there sounded very wrong.

"I don't live too far away from the boardwalk," she explained as she proceeded to help him slowly walk while supporting him. However her tone developed a slight hint of steel when she added, "Hurt or not, please don't consider trying anything that will land you in a worse condition... but..."

She then smirked. "With that lovely warning out of the way, my name is Jane. Save the Tarzan jokes because otherwise you'll just end up being thrown into the ocean here... What's your name?"

David didn't refuse to let her help him, and the assistance in standing was actually a lot of help. He knew that he would have struggled getting himself back up off the ground and with no little amount of pain involved, either. Walking was something that he could have done on his own, but he continued to let her help him. The truth of the matter was that he really liked being this close to her, to have his arm around her, even if it was just to assist him in walking, and even if they were complete strangers. There was something about her that he liked right away. Maybe her willingness to help him. To have another living soul reach out to him in such a way at a time when he needed it the most. He was just thinking of giving up on the whole damn lot. All of humanity and all the other creatures that go bump in the night. Being betrayed can leave a person very bitter. The last girl he liked, didn't want anything to do with him after finding out what he was (in all fairness probably trying to turn her into a vampire against her will had something to do with it), and the last person he tried to invite into the family unraveled it. If she hadn't come along when she did, David may have very well become a bitter recluse, getting more and more angry. This girl actually calmed his nerves, somehow. Just having her there with him.

He didn't know why she wasn't taking him to a hospital, and didn't ask. He was grateful for it. If she had tried, this little encounter would have had to come to a crashing end. What's a doctor going to do with a vampire? That was the last place he would go. But, it was unusual that she wouldn't automatically take him there. He wondered if perhaps there was more to her than met the eye, if there was some reason she would also be repelled from such a place. Even in his weakened state he could sense something about her. Something that made her… Different.

Her self protective statement caused an amused raise of the eyebrows and the flicker of a smile, as he paused to look directly at her. The girl had moxie and spunk; David liked it. And when she grinned it brightened up her face and caused the most beautiful contrast of the happiness on her lips mixed with the sadness in her eyes.

He outright laughed when she added the threat, pressing his free arm against his chest from the pain it caused in his lungs. Oh man, was he going to be getting himself in trouble with this one. He couldn't not tease and torment others. Well, possibly at the moment he wasn't as up for teasing as he usually was.

Starting to walk again and letting her lead him to her place, he slyly grinned, despite how he was feeling just minutes ago. "Happy to meet you, Jane. The name's David. And I will try my best to behave myself, scout's honor."


End file.
